Friday, February 27, 2009

Mayo adventure II

Sorry for being MIA. I have been debating the future of Stolen Colon. But anyways, that is for another post. On with the news.

Well a few days ago I hit my 6 month mark! It has been 6 months (and a few days) since my first surgery. And I am happy to report that all is great! Things seem to be working good. The j-pouch has gotten the hang of it's job, and I know which foods it likes and others that will cause it to protest. Minus the fatigue and the new terrain on the abdomen, I am as good if not better then I was before! As I get back back into working out, the fatigue will start to vanish and maybe some of the tummy of yesteryear will return.

On other FAP related news, Monday we head out for another Mayo Clinic adventure. Bright and early Tuesday morning (six freaking am!) I'll be having another (final?!) surgery to remove the polyps on my small intestines. The surgery will be endoscopic, the camera and tools will be passed down my throat, through my stomach and into my small intestines. The doc will attempt to remove the growths and scrape up as much tissue as he can without puncturing the bowel wall. He will also check the edges of the area that he worked on last time. He needs to make sure he got it all and the edges are clean.

The hope is (and I'm feeling very confident) that we are still one step ahead of this disease and that the growths have not become cancerous. Hopefully, this goes smoothly and he is able to fully remove these last two buggers. And maybe I can get to go more then two months between surgeries!

If everything goes as planned I will be released later that same day, but I'll have to agree to stay in a hotel nearby, just in case. We should be heading back to Michigan by Thursday morning.

We decided not to drag the Grace Monkey along with us this time. It is not fair to her to make her sit in a car for 9 hours and then have to stay in a hotel room all day and night. She'll be getting a nice holiday at her previous foster mom's house. They have 3 of their own boxers (even though one of those boxer is big enough to count for two!) 1 boston

terrier and 2 foster dogs living with them. It will be a full house with Gracie there, but I know she will get the best care and will be completely spoiled!

And one other really exciting tidbit, last night Gracie passed her Good Canine Citizenship (CGC) exam! One of the proctors said she was one of the youngest boxers he's seen pass the exam. I am one very proud mama. Click here to learn more about the exam and what it entailed. Here are a couple photos of Gracie being well. . .Gracie. Hard to imagine that this goof was able to settle down and be serious for an hour straight during the exam!

I too have FAP, almost 30, I went through Mayo here in Phoenix and am originally from GR. I'm coming up on my one year in May and that marks the beginning of my surgeries and I wouldn't change a thing. Maybe we can talk and compare stories.

About me

My name is Steph. At the age of 29 I was diagnosed with Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP). This blog is my journey through life with this disease.
I hope to use this blog to provide a way for friends and family to know what I am going through both mentally and physically. I also hope to provide a place for others w/ this disease to see that they are not alone.